Palm-based Fibre Mat (Ecomat) for urban greening and combating desertification in China.
Since the beginning of this century, Beijing has been intimidated by frequent sandstorm occurrences. Because of these rampant threats, sand control is empathetically labelled on the agenda of Beijing municipality to discover an ecologically environmental approach to tackle the problem. At the same time, with the forthcoming of the 2008 Olympic Game, environmental improvement effort made by Beijing becomes the center of attention of the international community. The signing of the Malaysian-China agreement in 2002 has been a starting point for Sino-Malaysia science and technology cooperation and linkage between the two countries in the area of environmental protection. This has brought the collaborative project for trials of Ecomat, the biodegradable mulch mat product made from oil palm fibre for soil protection and erosion control in the outskirts of Beijing. Soil improvement and afforestation are two key measures for controlling local blown-sand activities in bare sandland in the suburb of Beijing, which had been experiencing serious sand and dust pollution perennially. The research results on soil properties that responded to Ecomat cover indicate that Ecomat cover can increase water-holding capacity, decrease soil temperature, increase the activity of soil microbes and improve soil nutrient turnover. Investigation on tree growth indicates that Ecomat cover can increase photosynthesis rate and transpiration rate at different conditions, which can improve tree growth and their adaptability to high temperature condition. Application of Ecomat on steep slope at the roadside for erosion control indicated that without Ecomat, the gully formation, density and erosion modulus at the study site increased 100%, 83% and 10% respectively. The results suggested that Ecomat has a potential to reduce gully erosion and enhance afforestation on the steep slope. Evaluation of Ecomat function on windbreaking and sand- fixation in mobilesand dune of bare sandland shows that Ecomat cover can decrease surface sand transportation rate, increase surface soil nutrient, which can enhance tree growth and as a good surface cover materials for sand-fixation and revegetation. With promising research findings from trials in the outskirts of Beijing, it is believe that there is a large potential for Ecomat to be further exploited in other parts of China and other countries having similar environment.
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | ng |
| Published: |
Kuala Lumpur : MPOB,
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| Subjects: | Palma de aceite, |
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